Abstract

In 1679 the French doctor and archaeologist Jacob Spon (Lyon 1647 – Vevey 1685) published a carefully elaborated classification system for the the study of archaeology, a systematic which holds an important place in the history of art and archaeology and in the history of scholarship. Spon’s classification system resulted from his intensive studies of the ancient written sources and monuments, in particular, numismatics, inscriptions, works of art and objects of everyday life. Above all the tangible remains of antiquity represented an indispensible documentation for the true reconstruction of ancient history. Spon’s analysis was published twice in 1679, a Latin version in his "Miscellanea eruditae antiquitatis" and a French version, which provides a wider background to his progamm, in his "Réponse a la critique publiée par M. Guillet". Both texts are presented here. In the introduction Spon’s methods as an archaeologist, as evidenced in his writings, are defined, and an overview of his work in its historical context is provided.